Aetherflux, the house photo voltaic startup based by Baiju Bhatt, the billionaire co-founder of Robinhood, has raised $50 million in a Series A spherical as it really works to launch its first low Earth orbit demonstration in 2026.
The San Carlos, California-based startup, which got here out of stealth final October, goals to finally launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that may acquire and transmit photo voltaic vitality on to “floor stations” on Earth. It’s an concept that was initially triggered by Isaac Asimov’s 1941 brief story “Reason.” Bhatt is concentrated on turning this science fiction-inspired idea into actuality.
But first, Aetherflux must get a satellite tv for pc to orbit to show out the tech, to “display that we have now made this transformative progress of going from people not having energy from house to, for the very first time, there being energy from house for people,” Bhatt, the startup’s founder and CEO, advised TechCrunch.
At least, that’s the purpose with subsequent 12 months’s launch, which might be supported by the contemporary capital Aetherflux has raised. The spherical brings Aetherflux’s complete funding to $60 million after Bhatt invested $10 million of his personal funds into the corporate. The Series A spherical was led by Index Ventures and Interlagos, with participation from Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and NEA, in addition to another fascinating names like Jared Leto rounding it out.
Bhatt, who joined us on the TechCrunch Equity podcast earlier this 12 months, advised TechCrunch that Aetherflux will use the funds to rent extra engineers and put money into the expertise and infrastructure wanted for its first a number of missions.
“Our staff is primarily centered proper now on constructing the payload that sits on prime of the bus … that takes all the facility that the satellite tv for pc bus generates and turns it into laser energy,” Bhatt mentioned.
Aetherflux is utilizing Apex Space’s Aries satellite tv for pc bus. A satellite tv for pc bus is the core construction and system of a satellite tv for pc that gives important features for its operation, like energy, propulsion, and communications. Most buses generate energy by way of photo voltaic panels, and Bhatt says that energy — as a lot as a kilowatt of vitality — might be despatched again to Earth through lasers.
On the receiving finish might be Aetherflux’s “floor stations,” made up of photovoltaic arrays that convert daylight to vitality that’s saved in batteries for later use. Bhatt mentioned his staff, which is made up of engineers and researchers from NASA, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Anduril, and the U.S. Navy, can be engaged on constructing out Aetherflux’s first floor station. The startup doesn’t have a location for the station but, but it surely’s evaluating army websites the place there’s extra managed air house.
In the long run, Bhatt says the purpose is to construct small, transportable floor stations — anyplace from 5 to 10 meters in diameter — to deliver electrical energy to even probably the most distant places.
“The factor we need to display [with the first mission] is the end-to-end energy linking,” Bhatt mentioned. “We need to have the ability to display that we even have electrical energy on the bottom and use that to gentle up a light-weight set up or do some digital stuff on the bottom.”
Few have achieved the feat of sending solar energy from house to Earth. One of the one profitable missions was in 2023 when researchers at Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project demonstrated wi-fi energy switch from low Earth orbit utilizing microwave beaming. That proved the idea however falls wanting Aetherflux’s pitch for a scalable, industrial system.
Aetherflux’s increase comes off the again of an award from the Department of Defense’s Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund to develop house solar energy for the U.S. army.
